


Mezzanine

by fallenghosts



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, spoilers for Queen of Hearts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-05
Updated: 2012-12-07
Packaged: 2017-11-20 08:35:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/583346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallenghosts/pseuds/fallenghosts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after 2x09/'Queen of Hearts'. Eventual Swan Queen. In progress.</p>
<p>Emma's magic starts acting up once she's back in Storybrooke and there's no one else to go to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Post Season 2 winter finale, so it's sort of spoilery if you haven't seen it yet.  
> This is my first time writing in OUAT fandom and actually posting. I am very nervous, etc. D:

 

There’s a storm brewing, out on the water. Past the shore near where Henry’s castle used to be. Emma can feel it, along with the ache in her body that hasn’t left since she’s returned to Storybrooke. 

She feels it the most right before she lays down to sleep, finally in her own familiar smelling room, weight dipping into place on her mattress. There’s a static running under her skin, like something kept just at bay. 

She finds herself wishing, hoping she can hold it all in, all the impatience. Eyes shut and palms splayed out on top of the sheets. 

_Please not now._

 

  
  
She comes back to the diner with her sheriff’s badge pinned to her belt, new leather jacket shrugged in place. Ruby smiles at her, looking up from drying dishes with a side towel, itching to move from her spot. 

“Coffee?” 

Emma smiles back, nods her head and says thank you. She takes the same seat she has from the start, tapping her fingers on the table, knowing there’s always someone else in the diner no matter the time of day.

A brunette sits at the corner booth, looking out the window in deep contemplation, forgetting the crossword in front of her. It’s not Regina in her own usual seat. 

She bites her tongue and plays with a packet of sugar, trying not to look at _anything_ again. 

It’s not Regina she should be blaming. 

Emma takes her coffee to go, grits her teeth instead of setting down the cup that burns her fingertips, leaving for the chill of the outdoors. 

 

 

The sturdy walls of the sheriff’s office can’t keep out the draft. The air creeps in slowly and Emma finds herself tempted to stand at the window, to watch for the purple fog of magic she swears will blanket the town again. 

James stops by midday, interrupting the paperwork she doesn’t want to do, brows furrowing a little less at the sight of him. Her concerned father, she’s perplexed by it to this day, asking about her. To tell him everything that happened. 

He rubs his hands together, hiding them in his jacket pockets. Impatient and curious, just like her. Emma gives him a tired smile, maybe she inherited it from him too. 

Words tickle the back of her throat, “It was… different. Destroyed.” 

James frowns, wounded. Maybe he had been hoping for a different answer. Maybe Snow broke the news first. 

She coughs to keep from admitting the truth. That place could never be her home.   
  


 

Emma walks deeper into the woods after her shift is over, straying off the path and heading toward the well, long abandoned. Her boot prints sink into the soft earth, heels digging in as she searches for something she cannot find. 

She is drawn in, closer to the water. But there’s nothing to see or listen for, not even a whisper on the air.

Her breath catches, shallow and quickening when she sees a green spark flash across the stone. 

The world seems to spin as she tries to blink it away, turning on her heel and making her way back to her yellow bug, heart racing.

 

  
That night, sleep never comes. The light in the room keeps getting brighter until Emma needs to shut her eyes, still feeling like she might be blinded. Her fingernails dig into her palms but she can’t feel it, even if she knows the pain is there. Will be there, once this feeling passes. 

If it passes, this time.

The headache builds as she slips on a jacket, fumbling for her jeans. 

“Emma?” Her son grumbles from the couch and her heart clenches until it hurts. Though she doesn’t stop, reaching for her keys, next to Snow’s on the counter.

“It’s alright. Go to sleep, kid.” She smiles, but she can’t see more than a fuzzy outline of the couch and a body stirring. 

She locks the apartment behind her as quietly as she can, making her way across the empty street and letting the night rush over her. Further away, a wolf howls to the moon and Emma tightens her grip on the car door. 

 

  
“Hello?” Her voice is hoarse by now, she licks her lip and waits for the footsteps she can hear closing in on the door, echoing angrily in her head. “Regina?”

“ _What_ are you doing here, Miss Swan? And at this time of night?” 

The other woman judges her, keeping her distance. Emma feels like her body is on fire, gritting her teeth when she loses her footing again. 

“Help. Can you…” Emma reaches out, grabbing at the air for something to steady her. Her fingers close around Regina’s wrist and she can finally exhale. The light fades out of her eyesand she can hear Regina’s gasp close to her ear as they both stumble. 

“Help me?”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be trying to update once a week, at least. Thank you very much for your comments! And Red Beauty found its way in, oops?

“You think _I_ did this to her?” Voices echo in the foyer after a door slams and Emma starts to wake, face down on an almost familiar couch. With the recognizable smell of coffee, expensive perfume, and autumn air around her. 

Her arms ache when she moves, pausing as Regina’s heels click, getting louder as she rounds Snow past the living room and into the kitchen. She’s become quite adept at herding the Charmings, redirecting them to her liking. Emma thinks that’s why she’s not surprised anymore.

“Well, that’s what it looks like!” Snow’s voice grows high with anger, letting herself be led in the usual cat and mouse game. “And you’re not making it any easier to-“

“ _Emma_ came to _me_ ,” Regina’s tone is mocking, filled with venom but not striking. “And you want me to make this easier.”

Emma sits up, feeling the panic rise in her stomach when Snow’s sneakers scuff the expensive tiling to a full stop. “…What?”

She knows they’re at the entrance right now, looking in, and she can’t help but duck her head until she’s more than sure that she’s out of view, holding her breath for good measure. 

“Yes, now…” Emma knows this means Regina is going to press her for more details, not wanting to be around Snow long enough to prompt some kind of explanation. “While I know you want to collect her, I can assure you that after last night, she won’t be waking for quite a while.”

 

  
  
“Was this your poorly constructed plan all along?” Her nostrils flare, eyes growing dark. “Show up at my doorstep, feigning to get help-“ 

Every syllable is a jab at her. Emma continues her backwards path, almost tripping down the stairs. “And then get _Snow White_ to accuse me of harming you?”

She bites her tongue until there is a faint taste of blood, knowing better than to throw her own right hook into the mix. ‘ _Don’t be so dramatic._ ’

“You _lied_ to me.” It lays out in the open, plain and simple for her to grasp at, as though Regina thinks she won’t comprehend anything else. “You _knew_ this would happen.”

“I didn’t.” She doesn’t know what she said the night before, what the problem might be now, as Regina shoves Emma’s jacket into her arms and backs her out the door. “Regina.”

“She doesn’t know, does she? Henry doesn’t…” 

“No, I-“ Regina’s eyes flash angrily, holding her ground on the top step, looking very much like the Evil Queen everyone else thinks she will always be. “ _Regina_!”

“Don’t.” 

The door slams with that final word.

 

  
Emma closes the door behind her, shutters rattling lightly as she enters the diner. She broods instead of heading home and cleaning up, leaving James to cover for her at work. There’s hurt in his voice before she hangs up, “If you’re sure you’ll be okay.”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I just need some time.”

Emma sets her phone down and rubs her face with her palms, tempted to fall asleep. She watches the clouds roll by, getting darker for hours now. 

“You don’t look too good, Em.” Ruby’s voice breaks her out of the fog, hip bumping the counter as she leans in. “What can I get you?”

“Some coffee?” She grimaces, rubbing the back of her neck. Ruby sighs, reaching for a mug and pouring from a steaming carafe. 

She slides it over carefully, watching Emma’s hands as she rips open a few sugar packets. “How are you holding up?”

“Still adjusting. I remember how to drive, at least.” She shrugs a shoulder and goes back to stirring in milk. “Don’t know how you did it.” 

Ruby’s eyes shift, brown to gold, as suddenly as taking a breath. There’s a quiet hiss from the booth behind her. “Sorry, I…”

“Ruby?” Emma swivels in her seat to watch Ruby make her way over, not bothering to be subtle about it. 

“Belle, are you alright?” It’s the same brunette with a thick book resting open on the table.

“Nicked my finger, that’s all.” She winces, giving Ruby an apologetic smile, pressing the thin napkin to her finger a little tighter, blossoming with red.

“I’ll get you something for that, hold on.” 

Ruby’s hand brushes Belle’s before she stands, thumb over knuckles. Emma shoots Ruby a look that she doesn’t return, eyes set on the ground.  
  


 

“You’re back.” Snow corners her once she returns, keys jingling in hand. She tries crossing the living room but Snow is there, tugging at her jacket sleeve as it’s halfway off. “Why were you at Regina’s?” 

“It’s-“ Emma huffs and sighs, and Snow is undeterred as usual. “You remember when Cora tried to… rip my heart out of my chest?” 

“Of course I remember!”

“And then the well,” Emma looks down at her hands, stuttering when she feels Snow’s concerned gaze on her again. “It did _something_ …”

She thinks back to this morning, to Regina’s anger pinpointed at her, and she can feel her own frustration running through her veins. The burning heat returns in slow, measured amounts, prickling at her skin until her hands start to glow faintly.

“I wasn’t going to Gold. You have to understand that.”

“Yes,” Snow nods, drawing closer with each tentative step. She moves away before her mother can touch her arm. “Emma.” 

“I’m sorry.” She picks at her jacket, the urge to run away is the first thing on her mind. 

“We can figure this out.” Snow’s arm drops to her side after a moment and Emma forces a smile, wanting to pretend it will be true.  
  



End file.
